How to Apply 5S: Dishpit Hell

Do you enjoy doing dishes? Most people don’t, so it’s pretty easy for dishes to pile up and become a Dishpit Hell. The good news is that you can easily prevent this from happening with 5S.

Here’s an example of how 5S helped improve the service at popular Hawaiian restaurant whose customers were becoming increasingly frustrated because their food was taking too long to be served. The reason? Lack of clean dishes to serve their food on.

The wait help and bussers throw their dirty dishes in the Dishpit. The result? A giant mix of food, plates and cups everywhere leading to broken glass. There is no organization which creates a hazardous, chaotic working environment.

Step 1: Sort

The team begins by sorting through the dishes and cups by throwing away trash and broken shards of glass. They throw the compostable trash in one receptacle, and the non compostable in another. They also scrape the excess food particles off the dishes.

Step 2: Set In Order

They then set the Dishpit in order by stacking the different plates and cups in their appropriate group, and into their proper crates. They also place the utensils in the soak bin.

Step 3: Shine

Next, they begin shining the Dishpit by cleaning the dirty plates, cups and utensils in the dishwasher at a proper rinse temperature. They place the clean, shiny dishes, cups and utensils in their appropriate areas. They also hose and scrub down the area and finally squeegee the excess water away.

Step 4: Standardize

The team then standardizes a process where the wait help and bussers scrape off their dishes before stacking them in their proper groups in the Dishpit. They place trash in the side receptacles. They also stack all plates and cups in their proper crate or neatly on the side, as well as place all utensils in the soak pan.

Step 5: Sustain

Lastly, they continue to sustain the organization of the Dishpit by coaching the wait help and bussers in the new standardized process. They communicate with the dishwasher when it starts to get busy to maximize efficiency and flow of the restaurant.

The Results

By applying 5S to their Dishpit, the team at the restaurant is less stressed. More importantly, their customers are happier because their food is delivered more quickly. This also resulted in the restaurant:

Increasing financial savings (less broken glass to replace)

Increasing productivity and profit (more customers served)

Increasing safety (less chance of injuries from broken plates)

Their Dishpit Hell is now more of a Dishpit Heaven (if a Dishpit could ever be heavenly)!

5S Training Single Module

For a better understanding of 5S and an overview of Lean Six Sigma, check out our 5S Training!

Have you applied 5S at work or at home? Please share a photo in the comments below – We’d love to see how organized you are! And be sure to check out our 5S hub page – 5S: An Easy Way to Eliminate Waste – for other great ways to apply 5S!

Karlo is the CEO of GoLeanSixSigma.com. He ensures you and your organization have all the support you need for an exceptional experience both learning and applying Lean and Six Sigma to help you achieve your goals.